Today, Mr. Jet and I celebrate our 6 year anniversary.

I still remember the night he asked me to be his "girlfriend" - I was working for a local newspaper and we hosted a film festival at the Whaling Museum.  He met up with me at the end of the festival and said he'd like to take things further.  He asked me to be his - exclusively.  For some reason, I think the word exclusive is hilarious.

My response?

"Yes, I will be exclusive ::giggle::...with you ::giggle::...exclusively."

So began the Jets.

Since our first date was dinner and Rhode Island's Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, we re-enact it each year in the middle of October along with a decadent French meal at one of our favorite restaurants in Providence, Pot au Feu (if you're ever in town, A. give me a call! and B. GO HERE for some of the best French food you'll ever have!).  It was important to us to have some time to regroup and celebrate "us" and our 6 years together amidst all of the crazy last-minute planning and prepping.  It's so often we lose sight of the end game when we're really in the thick of it, don't you agree?

Wanna see my favorite pumpkins from last night?

Anyone else re-enact a favorite date or anniversary celebration?  I'm a sucker for tradition....

As a kid, I LOVED going to weddings.  Getting all dressed up, eating my weight in cake and dancing until my cheeks go red - how could you NOT?!  When I was younger, I always vowed that kids would totally-be-allowed-omg at my wedding no matter what.  Now that I'm on the cusp of actually tying the knot, my views have changed - ever so slightly.

Because our venue has a very strict guest-cap of 165, we had to make sure that the family members, friends and co-workers we invited were close and important people in our lives.  It really forced us to examine our original "throw everyone onto paper we've spoken to in the past 2 years" list and make some serious cuts.  

Both Mr. Jet and I come from medium-large families with lots of aunts, uncles and first cousins.  And those cousins have spouses.  And those couples have children...and so on and so on until the END.OF.TIME.

The point is, we had to draw the line somewhere.  We decided that there would be no children invited to the wedding, with only three exceptions.  Originally, Mr. Jet had asked his niece and nephew to stand as a junior bridesmaid and junior usher and I had asked my youngest first cousin* to walk Bruce down the aisle.  This was great because it set parameters that we were able to stick to - "only children in the bridal party will be invited."

Ha, if ONLY life were that easy - right?  

One of my first-cousins has an 8 year old daughter who is "like" a first-cousin and would be really upset if she were not invited.

Okay sure, she can come.

Also, Mr. Jet's first-cousin and her husband from Florida are coming up...and bringing their two kids...and don't have a sitter.

Okay sure, they can come.

I honestly don't mind accommodating people and making room when I can, but I'm afraid this is starting to get out of hand.  The only way I've been able to feasibly combat the free-for-all is to explicitly state on our RSVP cards that we've reserved "x seats in your honor..." to try and avoid the assuming making an ass of you and me.  You feel me?

As you can see, my anxiety comes less from the whole "kids at the wedding" thing and more from the "where will we PUT them" thing.  

Anyone make a few exceptions to actually have it work out in the end?  ::fingers crossed!::




*Since asking youngest-cousin L to stand up in the wedding, I now have a NEW youngest cousin - can someone please tell my family to stop breeding until after this damn wedding?!

How did I find Weddingbee?
Wayyyyyyy back in 2008, MOH K introduced me to this wedding site, a collection of blogs from real brides all over the country documenting their wedding planning.  She was just dating her future-husband and I had only known Mr. Jet a few short months - so our wedding dreams seemed REALLY distant, but we read to get ideas for "someday".  ;)  Someday came for MOH K in 2010 and in 2013 for me.  (I still have old posts saved to my blog roll from Mrs. Cupcake....oy! Did I really just admit that?)

My application Story:
While WB had been an interest of mine on and off for several years, I didn't ever really think about applying myself!  I have been a writer in some form or another since high school (omg, anyone remember Diaryland??), but hadn't really been documenting my wedding planning from the outset.  When I read the post calling for brides getting married through October 2013, I thought to myself, "what do I have to lose?  If it doesn't happen, at least I'll have done it for myself".  I started casually mocking up some posts back in February, but didn't post anything "live" until a few weeks before my birthday this past May.

I sent my application in with fingers crossed and expecting a long wait while they reviewed it.  I kept posting almost every day so the team could see my posting pattern and really get a feel for my voice and there it was, nine days later, an acceptance letter in my inbox from Mrs. Mouse!  I threw the covers off and screamed at Mr. Jet, "I'M IN...THEY WANT ME...MISS JET SETTER...WOOO!!"  Needless to say, it was the best birthday gift I've ever received!


Why Blog?
I have the worst memory.  Honestly, I'm one of those "It's on the tip of my tongue, I swear!" people who has to seriously focus to remember what I ate for breakfast sometimes.  I wanted a way to look back and remember how this process was for me.  I wanted to see photos, and "hear" myself as I was in the few months leading up to becoming a Mrs.  This blog will be an invaluable part of my life, and something I can share with the people I love and all of you whom I've never even met!


Why Miss Jet Setter?
I work for a national-brand handbag manufacturer and we have vendors all over the world.  Lucky me, I get to travel to meet with and assess a lot of our suppliers - my passport has gotten a workout over the past three years!  I also LOVE travel!  Home has always been and will always be where I land, but there's something about the night before a trip somewhere new that gets me all giddy inside - like the night before the first day of school!


On being a Weddingbee blogger: 
Blogging for the 'bee and for myself has been a wonderful creative outlet for me.  Since I don't have the chance to be creative in my day job, I have to make sure I find my outlet in other ways.  I was in a bit of a creative "rut" so to speak, and this blog has really brought me out of it.  It's a wonderful tool to connect with people all over the world who share my interests and others who bring new opinions and outlooks to my life as well.  

It's been a tremendous resource for me in my planning, and has forced me to think outside the box and make my dream wedding a soon-to-be reality.

My suggestion to any of those looking to apply - be yourself, and only yourself.  While imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery - variety is most definitely the spice of life, so let your individuality shine through in your writing.  Really just enjoy the ride!




Read more: http://www.weddingbee.com/2010/05/04/wedding-blogger/#ixzz2ZjRXOfTL

I was chatting with a friend last week about his impending nuptials to a girl he's been dating since the end of last year.  Not to get into crazy detail, but when I met him about a year and a half ago, he was engaged to another girl.  Things went south and they broke it off and within a month, a new girlfriend (current fiancee) had moved in.  He proposed to her on Valentine's Day and they are planning a September wedding of this year.

This really got me thinking about the length of a "courtship" and if it really has anything to do with your success or failure as a married couple.  Firstly, there are the "when you know, you know" couples - the ones who meet, marry and move-in before you've even had the chance to grow your bangs out.  Then there are the "if it ain't broke" couples who don't need a piece of paper to define them and spend years, if not forever, together in unmarried bliss.

I speak with no judgment here, to each their own!  I just often wonder why some people can be so critical of the "when you know, you knows" and the "if it ain't brokes" without really understanding the in's and out's of their private relationship.  I've seen plenty of "when you know, you knows" break up, sure, but I've also witnessed several in my own family that have remained happily married for 25+ years.  On the flip side, there are those "if it ain't brokes" who stay unmarried and happy for decades, and others who've taken the plunge after 15 years of dating end up splitting after a married few.

Mr. Jet and I fall somewhere in the middle.  We met in May, started dating exclusively in October, moved in together the following September, got engaged 4 years later in March, and will have had about a year-and-a-half long engagement by the time we tie the knot in October.  We started off as the "when you know, you knows", sprinkled in a little "if it ain't brokes" and ended up here - with three months to go.

I pose this question to all of you - are you guys "when you know, you knows" or "if it ain't brokes" - or something a little in between??

I've been an athlete since a very early age.  Wait, I've been semi-athletic since a very early age.  No, I've participated in sports teams since a very early age.  

Soccer, basketball, biking, roller skating - you name if, I've at least tried it once.  While I enjoy being active, I'm really quite awful at most things considered "active", which is why I quit the soccer team, joined the drama club and never looked back!

The older I get, however, the more important being active really is.  Not only to help with weight loss and maintenance, but to keep my energy up and keep myself feeling great.

Last year, I rustled up all the coordination I could and joined the BBRC.  The Buzzards Bay Rowing Club!

The club started as a nod to our city's whaling heritage, we row replicas of old wooden whale boats, 5 rowers and one boat-steerer per boat.  We take the boats out once a week in Buzzards Bay and run races as well.  I joined the club with BM E to help tone up and throw a little variety into my very stale and boring gym routine.  


I've noticed through reading lots of blogs and bridal magazines, that women are most concerned about their upper bodies on their wedding day.  Having only played soccer for any real stretch of time, my legs maintained a good amount of muscle, but my arms?  Forget it!  Wet noodles, my friends.

Joining the club has really strengthened my upper body including my arms, back and chest - all of which will be very visible the day of the wedding!  Plus, I get to row with my pals once a week - rain, shine or snow - while workin' on my fitness!

Anyone else get out of the gym routine to shape up for their big day?

We all now how weddings can make us all a little cray-cray - never mind those of us who are cray-cray on the regular, right?

I'm having some pre-wedding vendor freak-outs, yo!  For no reason.

None of my vendors have given me any reason to believe they won't deliver on my big day, but seeing as though I booked most of them over a YEAR ago, not having constant contact with them has me biting my nails WAY more than I usually do!

It's really hard to have booked vendors so far in advance and have them tell me that we don't need to meet up until about a month before the wedding to start hashing out details.  What about all the many months in between?  

For example, I emailed my DJ a few days ago "just to say hi!"  When really I emailed him "just to make sure he hadn't gone out of business and sailed away with my deposit and all my hopes and dreams!"

(He totally emailed me back within like, an hour).

PLEASE tell me some of you out there have experienced this unfounded stress?!

Boy, am I glad that guys do the proposal thing.  First of all, I'm terribly impatient and probably would've proposed to Mr. Jet like, three years ago.  Secondly, I am a crier.  Seriously.  I cried SO HARD when Chandler and Monica got engaged on Friends, when I found out the last season of Roseanne was a lie and Dan really died from that heart attack, when the Mighty Ducks performed the Flying V - it doesn't matter the occasion; happy, sad, poignant, totally random - if I feel any type of overwhelming emotion, tears are sure to follow.

WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO ON MY WEDDING DAY?!?!

I hear "our song" - I cry.
I think of Nana performing our ceremony - I tear up.
I think of dancing with Daddy Jet - I legit sob.
I think of the look on Mr. Jet's face when he sees me for the first time - I have to pull over and wipe my face.

GAH!  The worst part of all of this?  I'm an ugly crier.  I'm talking Farrah from Teen Mom style.

I've already alerted my make-up artist that she needs to make that shit INVINCIBLE - but what else can I do, hive?

Any suggestions for this emo-bride?

I always say that I met Mr. Jet at the perfect time in my life.  I was out of college, on the hunt for a "grown-up" job but really enjoying my time as a young adult coming into my own.  Mr. Jet is older than I am, and since I've always heard that women mature faster than men, was in a similar place in his life as well.  I've never been a believer in fate necessarily, but there are some very strange facts that link Mr. Jet and me in ways that I don't think I'll ever really understand or be able to explain.  I always ask myself, "Why did we meet now, not years ago?", "What brought us together after that wedding?", "Did our paths ever cross before then?"

Here are the facts...

• Mr. Jet grew up in the city we live in now.  I grew up in a smaller town "across the bridge" (think Capeside, a la Dawson's Creek - omg, Pacey.  LOVED him!).  Mr. Jet's city always got a bad rap from the kids in my town, and we hardly ever ventured over the bridge for fear that we'd encounter some crazy, evil shit.  We stayed on our side, they pretty much stayed on their side even though my house and Mr. Jet's house were only four miles apart!
  
• Mr. Jet dated a good friend of b'maid V for several years, and about a year after I started dating Mr. Jet, I started working at my current job - where Mr. Jet's ex was a design assistant!
• Mr. Jet's best friend in college (BM K) was best friends with my sister in high school (MOH J)!
• And the real kicker??  Mr. Jet attended a Catholic school from the 1st to the 8th grades and one of his best friends throughout that entire 8 years?  MY FUTURE STEP-BROTHER!  After Mr. Jet and I started dating seriously enough to broach the subject of my "boyfriend" to my parents, my step-mom asked his name.  When I told her, she said, "Mr. Jet --- from such-and-such catholic school?"  We all put two and two together and realized that Mr. Jet spent many afternoons and weekends at my step-mother's house before she met my father!

It's just all too weird, right hive?  When Mr. Jet and I were getting to know each other, we talked a lot about our pasts and the type of kids and teenagers we were.  While I was the poster child for sobriety and good grades and serving as president of both my French AND Drama clubs, Mr. Jet was skateboarding, skipping school and smoking pot with his minions.  I soon realized, Mr. Jet would've been THAT guy - the one I rolled my eyes at in the hallway for being such a deadbeat.  I was judgmental, he was apathetic.  Boy, have we changed.  While he's still somewhat the laid-back guy he's always been and I'm still the judgmental girl rolling my eyes at "hoodlums", as adults we just work.  And it's our common goals and desires in life that make us perfect for each other now, and in our futures.

Again I say, I met him at the right time.  I don't know why and I'll never know how - but if I've ever believed that anything has ever happened for a reason, this was certainly that thing.

Anyone out there believe in some sort of fate?  Meet your mate at "just the right time?"

I've been tattooed since the day after my 18th birthday.

I got a TINY shamrock on the nape of my neck to honor my part-Irish family:  (All photos personal)

When I was 20, I added this to each wrist:

At the age of 22, I upped the ante:

Finally, about two years ago, I added this:

Needless to say, I will be a tattooed bride.  I've spent a lot of time, thought, and money on my body art - and I'm not ashamed to show it off any day, nevermind my own wedding.  I've been asked on more than one occasion if I'll be covering up my tattoos for the wedding.

"Do you really want to look back at your photos and see tattoos?"

"Uhh...yes?"

I've chosen this art, and it's not rubbing off anytime soon.  What would it mean for me to "pretend" like I don't have tattoos at my wedding?  They even sell tattoo cover-up for people who want to hide their tattoos!

While I can understand the thoughts of my more conservative family members, I cannot pretend to be something I'm not.  These tattoos are a huge part of who I am, and one of the reasons I caught Mr. Jet's eye in the first place! ;)  (He doesn't have any, too scared of needles - but he thought I was quite the bad.  ass.)

I wouldn't, on my wedding day or any other day, want to hide my tattoo-light under a bushel!  I'll be proudly sporting my ink on my wedding day.

Hive, any other tattooed brides/grooms out there??

I got so excited about sharing my planning with the hive, I nearly forgot the most important part - the proposal!

I love hearing proposal stories, even those of complete strangers.  I used to watch A Wedding Story on TLC in college and tear up like a little creep in my dorm room while I ate oodles of noodles.  Anyone else?  Just me?  Okay, moving on.

Mr. Jet and I talked about "forever" pretty early on in our relationship and we even moved in together after only 11 months of dating.  We adopted our fur-baby Bruce and had settled in quite nicely into a little family groove.  After 4 years of said-groove, I felt like I wanted to take the next step.  I talked to Mr. Jet about the idea of marriage and we both felt strongly that we were ready for the commitment.  Being the psycho, type-A that I am, of COURSE I had to physically. show. him. exactly. what. I. wanted. for. a. ring.  ;)  Subtle, I am not.

We shopped around and within a few months, Mr. Jet had the ring in pocket - er, in "guitar case" as I later found out.

A few weeks after Mr. Jet admitted to having the ring "somewhere hidden in our apartment", I was packing up for a two-week business trip to China.  We went to dinner alone that night - no ring.  We finished packing my suitcase and hugging it out - no ring.  As I was on my way to bed, and figuring at that point it wasn't P-Day, I told Mr. Jet that I was a little relieved he didn't propose before I left for the trip - imagine how hard it would be to be proposed to then shipped off to a foreign country for two weeks with NO cell phone and NO Facebook?!  (Oh, the horror).

After a very pregnant pause, Mr. Jet revealed that he was going to propose at the airport in just a few hours when he dropped me off for the trip.

Oh.

He quickly added that he had another, better idea for later down the road but it was too late, I was already in tears claiming, "I RUINED IT!  I RUINED EVERYTHING!  I AM LITERALLY THE WORST!"  (Is anyone else noticing my uncanny resemblance to Lucy van Pelt??)

Thankful for Mr. Jet's uncanny ability to talk me down from any ledge, I finished packing and the we arrived at Logan Airport the next morning before dawn.  

As we hugged goodbye, Mr. Jet told me I hadn't ruined anything at all - and that I was far from the worst.

"Huh?"

No matter the conversation the night before, Mr. Jet was determined to send me off to China has his fiancée - come hell or high (tearful) water!  I, obviously, said yes and spent the next two weeks without a phone or Facebook to share the news. (THERE IS NO FACEBOOK IN CHINA, HOW AWFUL IS THAT?!) I did manage to send out a quick text and photo to my close friends and family:

So that's the story of how the Jets got engaged.  I'll tell ya, it was so very "us" and so very fitting to both of our personalities.  He'll spend the rest of his life making me take a step back and appreciate every moment - even those in the drop-off lane at Logan Airport and I'll spend the rest of mine apologizing for ruining the surprise, but loving how it turns out anyway.